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Laouni Mine

Prospect in Algeria with commodities Tungsten, Tin
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Host and associated rocks
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Geologic structures
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Ownership information
  12. Workings at the site
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10021647
MRDS ID DE00331
Record type Site
Current site name Laouni Mine
Alternate or previous names Le Renaissance

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 5.5682, 20.46673 (WGS84)
Relative position LAOUNI

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Algeria(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country
Algeria

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION FROM U.S. OPERATIONAL NAVIGATION CHART (ONC H-12), 1:1,000,000. XIHUASHAN ABOUT 10 KM WEST OF NAN AN.
  • SOUTH OF TAMANRASSET, CLOSE TO TRANS-SAHARAN HIGHWAY.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Tungsten Critical Primary
Tin Critical Primary

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Greisen

Nearby scientific data

(1) 5.5682, 20.46673
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Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Contact Aureole Of Pre-Ordovician Granite Intrusion.

Comments on the geologic information

  • PRINCIPAL MINERAL ASSEMBLAGES: QRTZ + WLFM + ORCL + MSCV + BOTT + TRML + TOPZ + BRYL + CLRT + FLRT + CLCT + MLBD + CSTR + BSMN + ARPR + SPLR + GLEN + CLCP + PYTT + PYRT +SCLT. OREBODIES OF XIHUASHAN CONSIST MAINLY OF WOLFRAMITE-BEARING QUARTZ VEINS THAT AVERAGE 250 M LONG, 150 M IN VERTICAL EXTENT AND 0.4 M WIDE IN A 10 KM LONG ZONE FROM SE-NW. MORE THAN 600 SUCH VEINS OCCUR AT XIHUASHAN ALONE. SOME OREBODIES CONSIST OF VEIN/STOCKWORK ZONES TENS OF METERS WIDE (E.G., PIAOTANG).
  • PRINCIPAL MINERAL ASSEMBLAGES: QRTZ + WLFM + SCLT + CLCP + MLBD + ARPR. DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF THREE MAIN QUARTZ VEINS, EACH 1-2 M WIDE AND UP TO 1 KM LONG. VEINS TREND E-W. AVERAGE GRADE IS 1 TO 1.5% WO3. SOME TUNGSTEN ALSO OCCURS IN GREISENIZED GRANITE AND IN PEGMATITIES.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1959
Year of first production 1965

Mining district

District name Adrar Renaissance

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Societe Nationale De Recherches Et D'Exploitations Minieres (Sonarem)

Comments on the production information

  • ANNUAL: XIHUASHAN MINE ONLY.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • COMBINED TONNAGE AND GRADE OF XIHUASHAN, PIAOTANG, DANGPING, DALONGSHAN AND HUNGSCHUICHAI. CALCULATION MADE USING GRADE OF 0.25% WO3 FOR XIHUASHAN (INCORRECTLY REPORTED AS 0.655 WO3 IN ANSTETT ET AL, 1985.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Area 27500HA

Comments on development

  • ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MINE: YES. TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT: PIAOTANG IS BEING DEVELOPED AS A MAJOR MINE/MILL COMPLEX. ACTIVE EXPLORATION IN DISTRICT: YES. TYPE OF EXPLORATION: GEOPHYSICAL METHODS. STUDY OF CORRELATION OF TUNGSTEN MINERALIZATION WITH TECTONIC SYSTEMS TO LOCATE "HIDDEN" OREBODIES (IN FRINGE AREAS AND AT DEPTH) AND REJUVENATE OLD MINES. A 5-YEAR SINO-FRENCH ACCORD, SIGNED IN LATE 1978, CALLS FOR ONE OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROJECTS TO BE A GEOLOGICAL STUDY, PRINCIPALLY OF TUNGSTEN RESOURCES, BY THE FRENCH. A TYPICAL LARGE TAYU MINE HAS HUNDREDS OF STEEP VEINLETS IN A MINERALIZED ZONE OF SEVERAL SQUARE KILOMETERS WITH RESERVES OF POSSIBLY 100,000 (TONS) OF WO3 CONTAINED IN ORES ASSAYING 1.2% WO3 AND 0.5% TIN. ORE PRODUCTION IS IN THE 2,000-TON-PER-YEAR RANGE (CHIN, E., 1978-79, P. 255).
  • NON-GEOLOGIC CONSTRAINTS ON DEVELOPMENT OR EXPANSION IN 1-5 YRS.: TRANSPORT/ACCESS, AND LACK OF WATER RECOURCES. ACTIVE EXPLORATION IN DISTRICT: NOT CURRENTLY; HOWEVER OTHER DEPOSITS KNOWN AT TIN-AMZI AND EL-KAROUSSA, NEAR LAOUNI. PROMISING INDICATIONS ALSO FOUND IN THE NEIGHBORING BACHIR ZONE: AT ALEMEDA, ANFEG AND AZROU-N'FAD (STAFF, LE TUNGSTENE, REVOLUTION AFRICAINE). ASSESSMENT: THE ALGERIAN STATE-RUN SOCIETE NATIONALE DE RECHERCHES ET D'EXPLOITATIONS MINIERES WAS REPORTED TO BE ENVISIONING MINING WOLFRAMITE ORE, BY 1984. THE FEASIBILITY OF CONSTRUCTING A FERROTUNGSTEN SMELTER RATED AT 500 TONS PER YEAR WAS BEING CONSIDERED (AMBROSIO, S.C., 1982).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    DE KUN, N., 1965, THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF AFRICA, NEW YORK, ELSEVIER PUBLISHING CO., P. 478.

  • Deposit

    AMBROSIO, S.C., 1982, THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF ALGERIA, PREPRINT FROM THE 1981 UNITED STATES BUREAU OF MINES MINERALS YEARBOOK, P. 9.

  • Deposit

    ROSKILL INFORMATION SERVICES LTD., 1977, THE ECONOMICS OF TUNGSTEN: THIRD EDITION, LONDON, ROSKILL INFORMATION SERVICES LTD., P. 115.

  • Deposit

    STAFF, LE TUNGSTENE, REVOLUTION AFRICAINE, I.C. 637, P. 17.

  • Production

    J.P. BONNICI (PERSONAL COMMUNICATION TO W.D. SINCLAIRE, 11/85). PRODUCITON 1960'S-1970'S. SOME PRODUCTION IS RUMOURED TO HAVE OCCURRED AFTER ALGERIA BECAME AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPTH OF UNCONSLIDATED COVER: 0-500 M. PRODUCT UPGRADED BEFORE EXPORT: CONCENTRATE. OTHER DEPOSITS IN THE DAYU DISTRICT ARE: SUNLUNGKOW, KIULUNGNAO, YATSENAO, SIAOTUNGKENG, LUKUSHAN, YILUCHUNG, SHILUNG, HOKENG, TAIAU, HSIALUNG, TITSANGCHAI, TSUNGSHUKENG, CHETUIKENG, TSANGTUISHANG AND CHITSAIPAN.
Deposit ACCORDING TO "ACIER ARABE" OF JANUARY 1977, ALGERIA'S LONG-TERM PLANS INCLUDED TUNGSTEN MINING AT GARA DJEBILER WITH TREATMENT AT LAOUNI (?) AND TAMANRASSET (ROSKILL INFORMATION SERVICES LTD., 1977). INFORMATION ON LAOUNI WAS ALSO OBTAINED FROM J.P. BONNICI, A GEOLOGIST WITH THE BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GEOLOGIQUES ET MINIERES (FRANCE), WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF THE EXPLORATION AND UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEPOSIT PRIOR TO ALGERIA'S OBTAINING INDEPENDENCE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1985 Werner, Antony (Sinclair, W. David) Geological Survey of Canada

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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